Computerized database systems are known and used as information repositories. Information is stored in information repositories and other databases for use with computer systems to store information necessary to operate the systems. Configuration data for controlling a new operational mode of a computer system, or executable application is entered into the database. User interface database systems are known that operate to retrieve the information and configuration data from such computerized databases or other information repositories, and facilitate exchanging data between the different computer systems and executable applications.
The OPENLink system by Siemens Medical Systems, Inc. is one known interface database system. The Siemens OPENLink interface database system is an executable application that facilitates exchange of data and monitoring among different computer systems. One computer system or executable application transmits data to the Siemens OPENLink system in a predetermined data format via a specific communications medium and protocol acceptable to the transmitting computer system. The Siemens OPENLink system in turn relays this data to a second computer systems. The second computer system receives the data in a predetermined data format via a specific communications medium and protocol acceptable by the receiving system. The data format, communications medium and protocol of the receiving computer system are not necessarily the same as those of the transmitting system. The OPENLink system acts as an interface, or integration engine to facilitate data and transaction message exchange between the computer systems, accommodating differences in data format, communications medium and protocol.
In the interface database system, the user configures endpoints of communication or connections between computer systems or executable applications and the interface, or integration engine, using configuration protocol. A connection as used in this context represents an object definition within the integration engine that is either responsible for inbound connectivity into the integrations engine from the source system or the outbound connectivity into the destinations system. A connection in this respect owns the responsibility for either sending or receiving data along with maintaining the archived transaction messages of that relationship.
A configured connection is associated to an interface controlled by the integration engine for communication, or message exchange between the integration engine and the computer system. A transaction message sent from a computer system to the integration engine is sent from an inbound connection. A transaction message sent to the computer system from the integration engine is sent to the connection. Connection is a term that describes the configured link to or from a computer system or executable application. Hence, connections are connections with the integration engine, or configured interfaces to an endpoint, or computer system. Sending a transaction message to a computer system, or receiving a transaction message by a computer system may be described with respect to the integration engine as sending to or receiving from an inbound or outbound connection. The communication interface, or integration enables communication data between particular source and destination computer systems (as respective inbound and outbound connections). The system receives transaction messages, or sends transaction messages by use of the configured connections. Such data communications and message exchanges are referred to as transactions. The exchange or transmission of transaction data is a transaction messages.
Known interface database systems typically do not permit the storing of both inbound and outbound data transaction messages and do not provide linking capability between the inbound and outbound transactions. Known system operation enables a user find a transaction in one transaction archive file, and then manually search for related transactions stored in other transaction archive files. It is difficult for a user to match an inbound transaction stored in one transaction archive file with a related outbound transaction stored in another transaction archive file. Currently this can be accomplished by concurrently viewing an inbound transaction archive file and an outbound transaction archive file, and attempting to match the posted times of the two transactions in the separate transaction archive files. It may be impossible to identify or correctly match linked transactions using conventional processes. For example, where the user interface system operates to control exchange of message transactions between different medical related computer systems it is difficult to match linked transactions, particularly where there are several archived transactions for the same patient that occurred around the same time.
Another problem with known interface system transaction processing relates to operation of user interface system functions that enable inbound transaction files to be edited, or the transaction message resent, which cause the system to create a new transaction. A user would want to know which transaction was used to create this new transaction. For this case, the original transaction is identified by looking through the transaction records in a transaction archive file to find one transaction record that has a reprocessed date/time that is the same time as the new transaction (in the new transaction record) that was created.
A system according to invention principles addresses these deficiencies and related problems.